Movement is a dose of positivity

Saturday

Jan 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Ken Stephens The Hutchinson News

Hutchinson City Council members reacted enthusiastically Friday to news that Manske and Associates of Wichita is working on a $16.9 million plan to redevelop the vacant Wiley Building into about 64 apartments plus retail and office space.

"For me this is something that we've been working for since I've been on the Council from way back," Mayor Dave Razo said. "It's exciting to me. We need to do something with that building. This is quite an accomplishment. Being at the level we are now is real thrilling. I really feel something is going to happen with this. It's going to be something we can be real proud of."

The City Council will have a special meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday to consider a resolution of support for Manske's application for state and federal tax credits, which would in turn be sold over a 10-year period and the proceeds used to finance the project. The Council also will consider a memorandum of understanding in which the city will commit to build a parking garage at a cost estimated at $1.9 million to $2.5 million at First Avenue and Walnut Street. The garage would have about 116 parking places for the use of the Wiley Building's tenants as well as public use by, among others, customers of the Historic Fox Theatre.

"This is an opportunity to take something that is a historic treasure in the center of our downtown area and bring it back to life and to do it in such a way that the cost to the community is relatively minimal but the potential outcome is huge," Council Member Bob Bush said.

"We're at that point where the tax credits are either going to go away or be greatly reduced in the next one, two or three years. And without the tax credits, there is no project. ... It seems to me, do we wait 10, 15, 20 years to condemn the building and spend $2 million to tear it down and have a small parking lot or do we spend $2 million now, get the tax credits and have a $12 million asset in the middle of our downtown? As far as I'm concerned, this isn't Business 101 this is Common Sense 101."

Bush and councilman Ron Sellers praised the track record of Manske and Associates, which has built at least 78 housing projects in Kansas and Nebraska using federal housing tax credits since 1988. That includes the Hutchinson Lofts at 720 N. Main, completed in 2011, and nine other projects in Hutchinson.

"The reputation that Manske brings to this project is very important to me because they are a group that gets done what they say they're going to do and they do it in a very high quality, on-time, on-budget manner from my experience," Bush said. "This is well within their wheelhouse."

Sellers' company, Luminous Neon, was among the investors that purchased the tax credits to finance the renovation of the old Grace Hospital into the Hutchinson Lofts.

"He's the first person who has been able to get an option on the (Wiley) building in all the years the building has been vacant," Sellers said. "So I think it's a significant step in having that option and I wish Jack and his group luck in putting this thing together. It would be devastating to the downtown if at some point in time we can't upgrade the Wiley Building, and that point in time when it needs to be done is coming very soon."

"But I think it's more than just a downtown deal," Sellers said. "I think the community at large has wanted this project to get off the ground. It's not just going to benefit downtown. It's going to benefit the city as a whole by restoring a major building that, if not restored, is going to go into continuing decay and at some point would have to be removed from the scene."

Councilman Dean Brigman agreed that the fact that Manske has a contract giving him an option to purchase the building from its current owner, George Nerhan, is a major step forward. He said that several developers have taken a look at the building in the past and then walked away because they couldn't reach an agreement with Nerhan.

"I hope and pray that it goes forward," Brigman said. "There's a lot up in the air. The Wiley Building is such an albatross there on Main Street and has been for years. We've kept our eye on that thing for I don't know how many years, 14, 15, something like that, just hoping something would develop and happen there. Maybe we're getting closer to that point. I'm ecstatic about it."

He said he thought the $2 million or so the city would pay to build the parking garage will be a good investment.

"I wouldn't want to go much more than that," Brigman said. "But I think the city has to have an investment in it. Of course, if we do that the city gets some use of the parking garage too. It won't be totally for the Wiley Building. Yeah, I think that's a good thing. It sounds like a lot of money, but how long have we sat with that thing just doing nothing? And it's deteriorating so bad with nobody in it."

Councilwoman Cindy Proett agreed that the parking garage would be a good investment by the city.

"You may remember in 2009 or so we did that study on the building and the cost," she said. "Frankly if it continues to deteriorate at some point it may become the city's expense to tear it down and it will cost a lot more than $2 million to take it down. So it would be better to spend $2 million in a positive way than $2 million to tear it down."

"We've wanted something positive to happen with the Wiley Building for a long time," she said. "It looks like we've got something really positive happening for that building. It's exciting and we're hopeful for the best with it."